DUSHORE – When volunteer firefighters arrived Saturday afternoon at the scene of a single-vehicle fatal crash on Route 87, they quickly realized that the deceased driver was a man who had joined their fire company just two months ago, according to Fire Chief John Yonkin.

Michael Hanley, 54, a resident of Colley Township, who was the sole occupant in his pickup truck, was pronounced dead at the scene by deputy coroner Michelene Scott, Yonkin said.

While Hanley, who joined the Dushore Volunteer Fire Company in August, suffered blunt force trauma injuries, an autopy was expected to be done because he may have suffered a medical episode behind the wheel moments before the accident, the chief said he was told.

Hanley’s truck went off the road and traveled 15 to 20 feet down an embankment, Yonkin said. Hanley was wearing a seat belt, the chief added.

A passerby who stopped to remove some tree debris from the side of the road discovered the crash, seven miles east here, about 3:30 p.m., Yonkin said.

It’s believed the the crash may have occurred about 1:30 a.m. Saturday because that it when a nearby resident heard what sounded like a crash, but didn’t call anyone, he added. The truck’s engine was cold when firefighters arrived at the crash site.

“There was no evidence of brakes being used, no skid marks,” Yonkin said.

Once Hanley’s body was extricated from the wreckage, he was loaded into Dushore’s ambulance and taken to the coroner’s facility in Laporte.

Along with Yonkin, a Dushore fire truck as well as one from Mildred escorted the body to Laporte.

“He was not going to go alone,” the chief said.

Hanley, a retiree, was “very excited about joining the fire company. He had already completed some fire training classes. He was looking forward to giving back to the community. I was ecstatic to have him in the company,” Yonkin said.